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Table 1 Summary of fuel load, weather conditions, and measurements of heat during prescribed burns conducted in native shortgrass steppe at the Central Plains Experimental Range in northeastern Colorado. Each row represents the mean of 3 or 4 burns conducted on the same day. TC = thermocouple, RH = relative humidity.

From: Characteristics of Burns Conducted under Modified Prescriptions to Mitigate Limited Fuels in a Semi-Arid Grassland

Year

Season

Fuel load (kg ha−1)

Air temp (°C)

Mean wind speed (m sec−1)

RH (%)

Scale

Mean peak temp. (°C)

Max. peak temp. (°C)

Mean sec >60 °C

Min. sec >60 °C

Max. sec >60 °C

Mean heat dose60 (°C sec)a

Mean heat dose0 (°C sec)b

Min. heat dose0 (°C sec)

Max. heat dose0 (°C sec)

TCs (n)

TCs burned (%)

2007

Fall

698

20.2

7.8

6.9

16 ha

160.2

202.8

61

32

84

2 943

6 573

2 651

9 488

18

100

2008

Spring

499

11.1

3.8

12.0

400 m2

125.6

175.4

62

10

115

2 202

5 922

723

10 666

24

100

2008

Fall

549

11.0

10.8

33.6

16 ha

114.1

206.7

33

0

67

1 440

3427

0

8 844

18

83

2008

Fall

4 600

19.7

3.3

24.0

400 m2

108.7

157.3

65

33

124

1 732

5 602

2 022

11 379

24

100

2009

Spring

420

18.9

5.2

8.8

400 m2

126.3

168.4

55

29

105

2 083

5 396

2 005

9 591

24

100

2009

Spring

530

18.5

5.1

8.5

400 m2

147.8

195.1

65

41

89

3 149

7 039

3 599

12 105

24

100

2009

Fall

1 175

10.8

2.7

13.7

16 ha

158.4

210.7

98

58

145

4 489

10 396

5 162

16 092

18

100

2009

Fall

967

18.6

2.7

12.5

400 m2

169.5

207.7

78

29

101

4 273

8 934

2 047

11 607

24

100

2009

Fall

949

17.9

3.4

12.3

400 m2

170.7

215.6

106

51

152

5 720

12 054

4 018

20 565

24

100

2010

Spring

909

16.9

2.5

10.0

400 m2

135.6

193.9

57

0

80

2 594

6 037

0

10 804

24

96

2010

Fall

911

22.6

1.9

26.7

16 ha

143.6

261.1

154

103

209

8 640

17 865

12 064

25 049

18

100

2010

Fall

775

25.1

3.4

19.4

400 m2

159.9

193.2

68

34

94

3 738

7 803

3 019

12 238

24

100

2011

Spring

900

19.3

1.4

20.2

400 m2

168.4

208.9

62

29

92

3 713

7 425

3 348

11 253

24

100

2011

Fall

351

17.8

5.1

9.8

400 m2

107.1

144.3

32

0

52

925

2 828

0

5 579

24

83

2012

Spring

378

18.3

4.4

14.8

400 m2

115.4

136.0

45

0

58

1 603

4 316

0

5 885

24

96

2012

Spring

702

18.8

4.2

14.3

400 m2

186.7

264.7

82

55

105

5 483

10 383

5 440

16 399

24

100

2012

Fall

176

16.3

3.0

26.8

400 m2

60.3

89.5

13

0

64

173

970

0

5 315

24

42

2012

Fall

219

16.7

2.9

27.5

400 m2

76.8

125.2

29

0

121

796

2 543

0

15 639

24

58

2013

Spring

97

19.2

3.7

11.5

400 m2

61.5

85.8

25

0

105

254

1 759

0

7 013

24

54

  1. a Calculation comparable to Vermiere and Roth (2011) and Strong et al. (2013).
  2. b Calculation comparable to McDaniel et al. (1997, 2000).